AI answer engines are a relatively new kind of information search tool: rather than returning a ranked list of documents, they generate an answer to a search question with inline citations to sources. But reading the cited sources is costly, and citation links themselves offer little guidance about what evidence they contain. We present attribution gradients, a technique to boost the informativeness of citations by consolidating scent and information prey in place. Its first feature is bringing evidence amounts, supporting/contradictory excerpts, links to source, contextual explanation into one place. Its second feature is the ability to unravel second-degree citations in place. In a lab study we demonstrate usage of the full gradient in a critical reading task and its support for deep engagement that increased the depth of what readers took away from the sources versus a standard citation and document QA design.
@article{arxiv.2510.00361,
title = {Attribution Gradients: Incrementally Unfolding Citations for Critical Examination of Attributed AI Answers},
author = {Hita Kambhamettu and Alyssa Hwang and Philippe Laban and Andrew Head},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.00361},
year = {2026}
}